Our first thoughts for our vacation plans are often of the new, fancy timeshare resorts. But mature, established legacy resorts still have plenty to offer, and some companies are reaching out to them to help them along. It may just take a different approach to reach them and personal contact seems to be the key.

Are Home Visits Back?

One company is using the home visit approach to assist single-site resort developers and HOAs responsible for properties that may be declining due to issues such as maintenance, shrinking reserves and escalating debts. Compass Resort GroupPresident Jay Finley III, and partner, Chuck Frey feel certain one on one contact is key in communicating with owners of legacy timeshares. Finley feels that a meaningful face to face conversation with owners that is not a sales pitch, goes a long way in building trust and relationships.

Compass owner service representatives make in-person consultations to access owner needs, answer questions, keep them updated on changes and develop an ongoing rapport. It seems to be just the ticket to keep the owners of these resorts actively engaged. A few of the resorts that Compass Resort Group has helped to become more profitable, gain new owners, and recover lost revenues are Branson Yacht Club, Galleon Bay, Fox Hills Development Group and Desert Breezes Resort.

Affiliate Access Programs

Being the largest timeshare vacation exchange company in the world, doesn’t stop RCI from keeping the personal connection with their affiliates through their Affiliate Access Program. In an effort to reach owners in a more personal setting that also gives them a chance to have their questions answered directly by an RCI representative, the company has been holding "Lunch and Learn" events. At these HOA-focused get togethers, affiliate access program participants have a chance to talk face to face with RCI sales and servicing teams about the best practices to get the most out of vacation ownership. There's also an opportunity for participants to get acquainted with RCI's 86 vendor and supplier affiliate access partners.

Online customer survey company and member of affiliate access, Customer Count, believes in the personal approach when reaching out to customers for feedback. Their Smart Survey assesses customer needs by asking questions that really get to the heart of the issue or problem an affiliate may be experiencing. The survey takes advantage of the ability to ask certain questions based on certain answers. It then uses the "skip patterns" process to ask questions that are personalized to a particular respondent.

ARDA Works with HOAs

One of the timeshare industry's largest advocates, the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) is making sure HOAs are supported. ARDA's HOA Outreach Committee's goal is to be a resource for the industry's single-site, sold-out homeowners' associations, their officers & directors, and individual owner members. The committee hopes to promote the understanding and development of the industry owners’ associations through education, directed outreach, communications, committee and task force efforts, and advocacy.